Offensive Ford India Ads Lead to Firings

3/27/2013 12:44PM

A top Ford Motor executive formally apologized Wednesday while the auto maker's Indian advertising agency unit fired an undisclosed number of workers following a series of controversial proposed advertisements to promote Ford's Figo subcompact car.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... the executive of Poly died the day the auto maker's ad agency in India firing an undisclosed number of workers after a series of proposed and including images of winning founding gagged in the back of a fourth ego went viral this week ... here to discuss the growing body of WSJ's for reporter Mike Ramsey Mike thanks for joining us ... stir ... well I'm basically the latest survey is that the New York auto show ... Jim Farley the ... global vice president marketing and sales is ... in charge of advertising ... Caleb apology and and and ... and talked about it you know how ... disgraceful the ads weren't ... in an earlier in the day ... in India was announced that GE to the TV ever ties firm ... I let go with undisclosed number of employees were all the advertisement ... aam and that Fortis committee reviewing its procedures for how ads are ... part of ... Port unaided but ... right now for you know it ... it's a public relations mess ... I've that Fortis dealing with but I think that we're probably on the ... downside of that and you know it ... as I ... said earlier the week ... aam ... is this this only happens from time to time these regional advertising agencies with there's just not as much control from an office and back if that were never even supposed to be made or are much less even public stock if it never end ... basically this was the of ... it is for ads were created and ... by the team and uploaded to ... a website All has the world that ... the that ... runs a contest for the best at advertisements in a word ... you know they did ... there were three different posters they showed they were trying to show the size of the ... the hatchet wrong in the fourth ego which is the sub compact vehicle ... and I you know they showed ... basically kidnapped people that work ... kind of like problematic for the driver of the city driver ... you know there's one Formula one driver Michael Schumacher in the back where ... were some competitors were up and coming drivers ... you know it in other shows to someone who looks like Paris Hilton with the Carr dash eons ... sisters in the back or maybe like buying for ... the day you know public attention and ... and you know that their Silvio ... Berlusconi whose ... of the Italian Prime Minister's had a lot of the sex scandals must pass in general I can picture that actually right now on the screen we can see that and of course he didn't win and very ... scantily clad in in some very I'm compromising positions impressive comeback on the culinary sensitive time in India ... they've had some real problems and in you know have had my case is about violence against women ... it's it's terrible public relations man timing as you know makes it clear that ... they know when the board's headquarters element here for ever so often something like this and and ... and it's hard to imagine that anyone even at higher levels to get its he could have possibly thought that a good idea ... you know it's it's kind of one of the show's creative team getting together to something they think would be sharp and witty ... uploading it to this and thinking ah well we might get ... we might get Birol on that score they were they were right ... unfortunately that you know the ... news as it is so ... distasteful and ads ... and at a time when it was going to have that big ... of backlash ... what's going on in India that it was because the big headache for four to ensure will cause them ... to go back to their processes to make sure that ... that whatever gets uploaded the internet and has their image on it that they have tight control over it and that that you know something like this can happen ... again ... yes they did how quickly things can go by really really do need that control thank lecturing FRS that we appreciate it ... thank you